Citation of Error Analysis Essay

html http://www. accentsasia. org/1-2/kato. pdf . G o o g l e html . Page 1 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 1 Citation Kato, A. (2006). Error analysis of high school student essays. Accents Asia [Online], 1 (2), 1-13. Available: http://www. accentsasia. org/1-2/kato. pdf Error Analysis of High School Student Essays Asako Kato Fudooka Seiwa High School IntroductionEver since the introduction of oral communication into the school curriculum in 1989, speaking has drawn attention as an important skill for Japanese students to master. A variety of speaking and listening practices have been experimented within high school English classes. Writing has also been included as an extensive practice. The 2003 revision of the Course of Study emphasizes â€Å"writing† as a vehicle of communication to convey messages according to the purpose and the situation (MEXT, 2003).However, in many of the university entrance exam-oriented high schools, writing classes are modified into grammar-centered classes; in other words, the students are accustomed to writing short sentences based upon the structures or the grammar points they are taught, and chances of writing effective essays are limited (Minegishi, 2005). It is true that grammar processing is needed for accurate production, but it is a challenge to teach how to write essays or even paragraphs within the available classroom hours, with the exception perhaps of some foreign language elective courses in select high schools.Under these circumstances, the English Composition Division of the Saitama Senior High School English Education and Research Association hosts writing contests, for the purpose of encouraging students to test their English knowledge and to enhance their production skills in the form of writing. The contest consists of two sections: a translation section and an essay writing Page 2 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 2 section. In the essay section the participants are given topics and expected to write their opinions in about 200 words. They have 80 minutes to work on translation and essay writing.The translation sentences are assigned according to level, but the essay topic is the same for all. The translation part is marked and graded by Japanese teachers; the essays are evaluated by ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) according to three criteria: creativity, organization and grammar. The winners are chosen depending on the total points of the two sections. In this paper, I will shed some light on the essays and analyze them with a view towards identifying problems students have, which will provide evidence of how English is learned and what strategies students are employing to construct their essays.The primary focus of this paper is on grammar in writing not creativity and organization, but some pedagogical suggestions for teaching and learning are also mentioned. Methods The data analyzed for this study are errors in students’ ess ays written in an essay competition held in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In this contest, the participants were given the topic, â€Å"If you were to meet a celebrity, who would you like to meet? What would you like to ask him/her? What would you like to do with him/her? The errors in the essays were categorized based on Ferris’ (2005) Analysis Model (Fig. 1). Her â€Å"Common ESL writing errors† fall into four categories; morphological errors, lexical errors, syntactic errors, and mechanical errors. This model is based upon the â€Å"Description of the major error categories† (Fig. 2), which covers verb errors, noun ending errors, article errors, word wrong, and sentence structure (p. 92). According to James (1998), an error analysis model must be â€Å"well-developed, highly elaborated, and self-explanatory† (p. 95). Ferris’ model fulfills these needs.With this system it is easy to identify global and local errors (Burt and Kiparsky, 1972, cited i n James, 1998) which I added to Ferris’ model of major errors in Figure 1. Global errors are major errors in sentence structure, which makes a sentence difficult or impossible to understand, whereas local errors are minor mistakes, which do not cause problems of comprehension. In Ferris’ classification, syntactic errors are considered global errors. Mechanical and lexical mistakes, on the other hand, are local errors. Morphological errors can be global errors, Page 3Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 3 but when they do not hinder readers’ understanding of the content they are local errors. Figure 1 Common ESL Writing Errors based on Ferris’(2005) Model Morphological Errors > global / local errors Verbs: Tense, From, Subject-verb agreement Nouns: Articles/determiners, Noun endings (plural/possessive) Lexical Errors > local errors Word choice, Word form, Informal usage, Idiom error, Pronoun error Syntactic Errors > global errors Sentence structure, Run-ons, Fragments Mechanical > local errorsPunctuation, Spelling, Capitalization* * â€Å"Capitalization† is added in this study. Figure 2 Description of major error categories (Ferris, 2005) Verb errors All errors in verb tense or form, including relevant subject-verb agreement errors. Noun ending errors Plural or progressive ending incorrect, omitted, or unnecessary; includes relevant subject-verb agreement errors Article errors Article or other determiner incorrect, omitted, or unnecessary Word wrong All specific lexical errors in word choice or word form, including preposition and pronoun errors.Spelling errors only included if the (apparent) misspelling resulted in an actual English word. Sentence structure Errors in sentence/clause boundaries(run-ons, fragments, comma splices), word order, omitted words or phrases, unnecessary words or phrases; other unidiomatic sentence construction. Participants The essays analyzed for this study were written by 148 high school stud ents: 46 first year students, 58 second year students, and 44 third year students; 48 males and 100 females. The participants’ high schools consisted of twenty public schools and two private schools.Most of these Page 4 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 4 schools are considered â€Å"academic† high schools in that they prepare students for university exams, which means the students tend to be highly motivated and are expected to be able to utilize their English grammar, structure knowledge and vocabulary in writing. Procedure All errors were marked and classified. They were first classified into global errors or local errors. The verb-related errors were considered as â€Å"verb errors†, therefore, they were considered morphological errors.However, confusion in the use of transitive/intransitive verbs was considered a global syntactic error because it affects the whole sentence structure. Also, tense errors were anticipated because the essay topic â₠¬Å"If you were to meet a celebrity†¦? † presumably requires the use of the conditional. As long as the errors did not interfere with the understanding of the sentence, they were put into tense errors, i. e. , morphological errors. It was sometimes difficult to draw the line between lexical errors and mechanical errors; that is, whether the word is a wrong choice or simply a spelling mistake.If the word had a separate meaning but exists as a word, then it was treated as lexical error; otherwise, it was marked as a mechanical error. However, if an inappropriate word choice disrupts the meaning in the whole sentence, it was considered a syntactic error. In short, the decision of error classification depends on each sentence. As for repeated mechanical errors in the same sentence, i. e. , spelling mistakes, punctuation, and capitalization, the multiple mistakes were counted as one. Findings and Discussion First of all, not all errors were easily categorized: some went beyond and across the categories.In each case, errors were carefully identified and classified according to the seriousness of the problem. If one major error included other minor errors, then together they were considered to be a major error. For example, a sentence â€Å"*And, I want to *go to abroad such as the UK, the US, *French, *Australlia and so on† was categorized as one syntactic error because the misuse of verb and adverb (go to abroad) causes sentence diffusion, even though this sentence included one lexical error Page 5 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 5 (French) and one mechanical error (Australlia).Secondly, a danger with lists of â€Å"common† ESL/EFL errors, as Ferris (2005) herself points out, is that they may be over-generalized to all students. Of course, individual students have different language capabilities and learning traits; for example, one student constantly omitted articles and another student confused tense of verbs all through her es say. Although the statistics give a general picture of the problems, these do not apply to every student. While keeping these considerations in mind, the statistics provide interesting information.The total number of errors was 1518 (596 in 46 first year essays, 491 in 58 second year essays, and 431 in 44 third year essay). The average number of errors per student was 13. 5 for the first year students, 11. 2 for the second year students, and 9. 8 for the third year students. Considering the short length of the essay, these were not small numbers, although the average number of errors decreased according to the students’ year in school. As a total, syntactic errors dominated the rest at 29%, followed by lexical errors (21%), morphological errors in nouns and mechanical errors (18%), and morphological errors (14%).According to the school year, the most common errors observed in first year essays were lexical errors, which comprised 24% of the total, while syntactic errors compr ised most errors in second and third year essays, which amounted to 35. 2% and 31. 1% respectively. Among the first years’ lexical errors, â€Å"word choice† was the most common mistake (93 in total). As for second year and third year samples, as many as 158 and 121 errors were made respectively in â€Å"sentence structure. † These findings indicate that first year students did not have sufficient vocabulary while the second and third year students did not use it adequately.Page 6 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 6 Table 1. Common EFL Writing Errors in Japanese High School Students’ Essays Percentage of Total Errors Marked (%) Error Type 1st year 2nd year 3rd year Average Morphological Errors Lexical Errors Syntactic Errors Mechanical (Verbs) Tense Form Subject-verb agreement Total Verb Errors (Nouns) Articles/determiners Noun endings Total Noun Errors Word choice Word form Informal usage Idiom error Pronoun error Total Lexical Errors Sentence structure Run-ons Fragments Total Syntactic Errors Punctuation Spelling CapitalizationTotal Mechanical Errors 5. 87 5. 87 0. 67 12. 4 10. 6 8. 22 18. 8 15. 6 1. 51 1. 01 3. 19 2. 68 24. 0 15. 3 1. 34 3. 19 19. 8 5. 7 14. 4 4. 87 25. 0 8. 96 1. 22 2. 65 12. 8 11. 0 5. 91 16. 9 13. 6 4. 07 0. 61 1. 02 3. 87 23. 2 32. 2 0. 61 2. 44 35. 2 1. 43 6. 11 4. 28 11. 8 11. 1 2. 09 4. 64 17. 9 9. 98 8. 12 18. 1 9. 51 3. 25 0. 23 1. 16 2. 55 16. 7 28. 1 1. 86 1. 16 31. 1 1. 86 11. 4 3. 02 16. 2 8. 66 3. 06 2. 65 14. 4 10. 5 7. 42 17. 9 12. 9 2. 94 0. 62 1. 79 3. 04 21. 3 25. 2 1. 27 2. 26 28. 7 3. 0 10. 6 4. 05 17. 7 Percentage of Total Errors Marked 14% 18% 21% 29% 18%Morphological Error: Verbs Morphological Error: Nouns Lexical Error Syntactic Error Mechanical Error Percentage of Errors by Year 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1 2 3 Year Mechanical Error Syntactic Error Lexical Error Morphological Error: Nouns Morphological Error: Verbs Page 7 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 7 The syntactic errors, the most prevalent errors, were mainly related to verbs, for example, the misuse of be-verbs, transitive and intransitive verbs, auxiliary verbs, no verb use, the word order in indirect questions, and tense confusion in relation to the conditional.From an English educator’s point of view, it was rather disappointing that many students made errors in the use of basic verbs such as â€Å"go†, â€Å"want† and â€Å"listen†, such as in â€Å"*I want to go my future†, â€Å"*I want become a doctor†, and â€Å"*I want to listen the story†. In the case of errors in conditional sentences, on the other hand, the structure was usually grammatically correct, but the meaning was irrational. For example, if a writer mentioned a celebrity such as a historical man/woman, movie actor, singer, athlete or an imaginary character, s/he had to make the sentence conditional.However, some used simple present tense. One of these examples is, â€Å" *If I ride Doraemon’s time machine, I can go everywhere†. This type of error was put into verb tense errors under morphological errors. As an explanation of Japanese students’ use of conditional, Thompson (2001) asserts that even when students have mastered the mechanics of forming unreal conditionals and wishes in all their complexity, the problem of concept remains. Additionally, it is difficult for Japanese students to use conditionals correctly, for there is a disparity in the use of conditionals in English and Japanese.Another characteristic in the syntactic errors stemed from interference from Japanese, their mother tongue (L1 interference). L1 interference is considered a major obstacle to second and foreign language acquisition (Ellis, 2003; Ferris, 2005; Lightbrown & Spada, 2002; Littlewood, 2002. Some examples from students’ essays are as follows: (a)* He challenged. ( ) (b)* They hit all over the world since 1984. ( 1984 ) In these sentences, t he writers used English equivalents for the Japanese words, i. e. , (a) chousen-suru=challenge, and (b) itto-suru=hit. Incidentally, the verbs â€Å"challenge† and â€Å"hit† are transitive verbs, which means these sentences are grammatically incorrect; therefore, they were classified as syntactic errors. Other syntactic errors from L1 interference are observed in Page 8 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 8 relation to the choice of prepositions. The examples are: (c) *I will join to children’s network of UNICEF. ( ) (d) *I want to marry with him. ( ) The writers translated the Japanese prepositional particle â€Å"? [ni]† into â€Å"to† in example (c) and â€Å"? to]† into â€Å"with† in example (d). This type of error is common among Japanese students because transitive verbs include prepositions in their Japanese meanings; therefore it is hard to distinguish whether a verb is transitive or prepositional from the translat ed meanings. The second dominant error category was that of lexical errors, especially in first year student essays. Here again L1 interference was observed in word choices. (e) *I think his baseball soul is the biggest of all. ( ) (f) *I want to hear Murasaki Shikibu three questions. 3 ) In (e), â€Å"soul† and â€Å"big† do not match with each other in this context. The writer meant to say, â€Å"I think he has the strongest spirit in baseball. † In Japanese â€Å"soul† and â€Å"spirit† are given the same translation as â€Å"? ( )tamashii. † Besides, neither soul nor spirit can be â€Å"big† but rather â€Å"strong†. In (f), the verb â€Å"hear† is derived from the Japanese word â€Å" ( ) kiku†, which can also mean â€Å"listen† or â€Å"ask† in Japanese. These students seemed to have picked up words without thinking about content and collocation.Presumably, in English class, there is a tendenc y for students not to consult dictionaries for language usage but to look up word meaning only, then memorize the main translation of the word, and use this translation regardless of context. The third and fourth prominent error categories were noun related morphological errors and mechanical errors, especially spelling mistakes. In noun errors, article errors outnumbered the rest, accounting for as much as 10% of the total. The problem with articles stems from the fact that the Japanese language has no concept of articles and the countable and uncountable distinction.It is natural that Japanese students have difficulty in using them correctly. In addition, articles are introduced near the end in many of grammar textbooks, which in a sense is parallel to the language Page 9 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 9 acquisition order described by Littlewood (2002) of a study of children acquiring morphemes in their native language. Plurals and articles have always been, and will continue to be difficult to teach to Japanese students, which is why some teachers wait until the end of school year to introduce them in class.Spelling mistakes, sorted as mechanical errors, comprised 10% of the total number of errors. This was partly because many students applied Japanese (katakana) pronunciation to English spellings. For example, writers who spelled *performence (performance), *calacter (character), and *confort (comfort) did not seem to spell according to his/her understanding of the pronunciation, but from how the words sound through the filter of katakana. Lastly the problem of organization as well as the use of conjunctions needs to be mentioned.Sentences starting with â€Å"because† were categorized as fragments which belonged to syntactic errors, whereas sentences starting with â€Å"and† and â€Å"so† were not treated as errors. â€Å"And† and â€Å"so† are taught as conjunctions that connect two phrases that carry equal weight in the sentence, whereas â€Å"because† is taught as a conjunction followed by a subordinate clause. However, the fact is that as many as 75 â€Å"and†s and 89 â€Å"so†s were observed at the beginning of the students’ sentences. James (1998) states that learners tend to overuse connectors to support logical relationships between propositions that just do not exist.It is probable that few students have learned how to organize English writing; that is, they do not know they should start with an introduction, followed by a main body, and then a conclusion, paying attention to the consistency of their thoughts. Those who were not familiar with English writing ended up listing items in order: who they wanted to meet, what they would like to do, and where they would like to go. Without cohesive devices such as paraphrasing and rephrasing, or markers that direct the logical flow of sentences, the writers could not communicate their ideas effectively.Conc lusion How, then, can teachers empower students to become better writers? Obviously the class time allotted for writing is limited, yet there are things teachers can do in order to improve students’ Page 10 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 10 writing in other English classes. Judging from the fact that sentence fragments outnumbered other errors in this study, teachers need to draw students’ attention to the whole sentence structure and sentence combining when discussing verbs and other grammar points in class.The confusion between transitive/intransitive verbs and prepositional verbs can be pointed out in reading class, bringing awareness to the differences between English and Japanese. When students come up with a new verb, or even a familiar one, they should be aware of the conceptual gap between English and Japanese. One good example of a split between Japanese and English is the word (to see). There are many more English verbs for miru. In Japanaese mi ru is used when you perceive with your eyes, when you watch, look, view, overlook or investigate; when you take care of somebody like children or sick people, as in â€Å"kodomo wo miru†.You can even say miru when you try something, like ‘mitemiru’ or ‘yattemiru’, literally â€Å"try to see† and â€Å"try to do† respectively. Therefore, it is confusing for students to select the suitable equivalent of miru in English. They have to think about the context. Kowalski (2005) gives usages of in Figure 4: Figure 4 Different kinds of meanings associated with see (something that falls within your field of vision) look (intentionally at a stationary object) watch (something moving) Also, the gap between English and Japanese applies not only at sentential level but also to the lexical level.As I mentioned earlier, L1 interference affects both sentence structure and word choice. Underlying knowledge of usage and collocation enables students to choose the right words in right the places in their writing. Because of the avalanche of Japanese-English in the media, however, it has become even more difficult to eliminate these Japanglish words from students’ vocabulary. Teachers and learners should pay special attention not reinforce these words and phrases in the English language classroom. Page 11 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 11Good writing, however, does not rely only on grammatical and lexical accuracy but also on the creativity in context and the logical flow of sentences. In order to write coherent, well-structured paragraphs and essays, the writers have to be creative and concentrate on the content as well. First, teachers can help students raise their awareness of how to organize English writing, and how units of sentences and paragraphs are connected with one another to form meaningful text. By recognizing the importance of coherency in their writing, the students can dedicate themselves to the i deas or message that they are trying to convey.I employ â€Å"process writing† for the improvement of this skill. In contrast to translation or guided composition, â€Å"process writing† emphasizes the processes such as planning, drafting, and reviewing (Johnson & Johnson, 1998 cited in Furneaux, 2000). In this contest, only a few participants seemed to employ this approach, possibly because of the time constraints of the competition. By reflecting on their writing process, students will internalize their grammatical and lexical knowledge and utilize it for production.Another effective approach to improve writing skill is to work on other language skills. All four skills are interconnected. Even though writing classes are not consistently available in school curriculums, compared to reading and oral communication classes, students can cultivate their writing skills by consciously reading or listening. Krashen and Terrell (1983) claim that speech and writing production emerges by focusing on listening and reading. Extensive reading outside of the class, for instance, will become a rich source for extensive writing.Exposure to authentic writing will help students expand their vocabulary and write well-organized, reasonably cohesive essays. In conclusion, I believe that Japanese students can become competent writers of English with the appropriate support from teachers. Quoting Kramsch (1993): â€Å"Teachers have to impart a body of knowledge, but learners have to discover that knowledge for themselves in order to internalize it† (p. 6). I suggest that teachers integrate the grammar focus while encouraging creativity and teaching organizational form.Learners, on the other hand, can enrich their knowledge of language by taking every opportunity to use it, developing learning strategies outside of the class, and reflecting on the writing process before, during and after they write. Page 12 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 12 Referenc es Ellis, R. (2003). Second language acquisition. (8 th ed. ). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ferris, D. R. (2005). Treatment of error in second language writing. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Furneaux, C. (2000). Process writing.The University of Reading school of linguistics and applied language studies. Retrieved September 29, 2005, from http://www. rgd. ac. uk/AcaDeps/cl/slas/process. htm James, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use Exploring error analysis. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Kowalski, C. (2005). Translation in the writing class: friend or foe? In K. Bradford-Watts, C. Ikeguchi, & M. Swanson (Eds. ). JALT2004 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. New York: Oxford University Press. Krashen, S. D. Terrell, T. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. San Francisco:The Alemany Press. Lightbrown, P. M. & Spada, N. (2002). How languages are learned. (2 nd. ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Littlewood, W. (2002). Foreign and second language learning. (17 th ed. ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Minegishi, H. (2005, March). The questionnaire result. Saitama high school English education bulletin, 41. 49-59. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The course of study for foreign languages. 2003, March). Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www. mext. go. jp/english/shotou/030301. htm Sonoda, N. (2005). A comparative study of two approaches to English writing: translation and process writing. In K. Bradford-Watts, C. Ikeguchi, & M. Swanson (Eds. ). JALT2004 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT Thompson, I. (2001). Japanese speakers. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds), Learner English: A Page 13 Volume 1 Number 2 October 2006 Accents Asia 13 teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 7 Bagman and Crouch

Harry disentangled himself from Ron and got to his feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho. â€Å"Morning, Basil,† said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; Harry could see an old newspaper, an empty drinks can, and a punctured football. â€Å"Hello there, Arthur,† said Basil wearily. â€Å"Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some†¦.We've been here all night†¦.You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite†¦.Weasley†¦Weasley†¦.† He consulted his parchment list. â€Å"About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory†¦second field†¦ask for Mr. Payne.† â€Å"Thanks, Basil,† said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him. They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist. After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, Harry could just make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the Diggory's and approached the cottage door. A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents. Harry knew at a glance that this was the only real Muggle for several acres. When he heard their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them. â€Å"Morning!† said Mr. Weasley brightly. â€Å"Morning,† said the Muggle. â€Å"Would you be Mr. Roberts?† â€Å"Aye, I would,† said Mr. Roberts. â€Å"And who're you?† â€Å"Weasley – two tents, booked a couple of days ago?† â€Å"Aye,† said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door. â€Å"You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?† â€Å"That's it,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"You'll be paying now, then?† said Mr. Roberts. â€Å"Ah – right – certainly -† said Mr. Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Harry toward him. â€Å"Help me, Harry,† he muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. â€Å"This one's a – a – a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now†¦So this is a five?† â€Å"A twenty,† Harry corrected him in an undertone, uncomfortably aware of Mr. Roberts trying to catch every word. â€Å"Ah yes, so it is†¦.I don't know, these little bits of paper†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You foreign?† said Mr. Roberts as Mr. Weasley returned with the correct notes. â€Å"Foreign?† repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled. â€Å"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money,† said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. â€Å"I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago.† â€Å"Did you really?† said Mr. Weasley nervously. Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change. â€Å"Never been this crowded,† he said suddenly, looking out over the misty field again. â€Å"Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up†¦.† â€Å"Is that right?† said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him. â€Å"Aye,† he said thoughtfully. â€Å"People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and a poncho.† â€Å"Shouldn't he?† said Mr. Weasley anxiously. â€Å"It's like some sort of†¦I dunno†¦like some sort of rally,† said Mr. Roberts. â€Å"They all seem to know each other. Like a big party.† At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door. â€Å"Obliviate!† he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts. Instantly, Mr. Roberts's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a took of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Harry recognized the symptoms of one who had just had his memory modified. â€Å"A map of the campsite for you,† Mr. Roberts said placidly to Mr. Weasley. â€Å"And your change.† â€Å"Thanks very much,† said Mr. Weasley. The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, â€Å"Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur.† He Disapparated. â€Å"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports,† said Ginny, looking surprised. â€Å"He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?† â€Å"He should,† said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, â€Å"but Ludo's always been a bit†¦well†¦lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had.† They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, or weather vanes. However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical that Harry could hardly be surprised that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent that had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, sundial, and fountain. â€Å"Always the same,† said Mr. Weasley, smiling. â€Å"We can't resist showing off when we get together. Ah, here we are, look, this is us.† They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field, and here was an empty space, with a small sign hammered into the ground that read WEEZLY. â€Å"Couldn't have a better spot!† said Mr. Weasley happily. â€Å"The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be.† He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders. â€Å"Right,† he said excitedly, â€Å"no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult†¦.Muggles do it all the time†¦.Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?† Harry had never been camping in his life; the Dursleys had never taken him on any kind of holiday, preferring to leave him with Mrs. Figg, an old neighbor. However, he and Hermione worked out where most of the poles and pegs should go, and though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it came to using the mallet, they finally managed to erect a pair of shabby two-man tents. All of them stood back to admire their handiwork. Nobody looking at these tents would guess they belonged to wizards, Harry thought, but the trouble was that once Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived, they would be a party of ten. Hermione seemed to have spotted this problem too; she gave Harry a quizzical look as Mr. Weasley dropped to his hands and knees and entered the first tent. â€Å"We'll be a bit cramped,† he called, â€Å"but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look.† Harry bent down, ducked under the tent flap, and felt his jaw drop. He had walked into what looked like an old-fashioned, three room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen. Oddly enough, it was furnished in exactly the same sort of style as Mrs. Figg's house: There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats. â€Å"Well, it's not for long,† said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago.† He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. â€Å"We'll need water†¦.† â€Å"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us,† said Ron, who had followed Harry inside the tent and seemed completely unimpressed by its extraordinary inner proportions. â€Å"It's on the other side of the field.† â€Å"Well, why don't you, Harry, and Hermione go and get us some water then -† Mr. Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans â€Å"- and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?† â€Å"But we've got an oven,† said Ron. â€Å"Why can't we just -â€Å" â€Å"Ron, anti-Muggle security!† said Mr. Weasley, his face shining with anticipation. â€Å"When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!† After a quick tour of the girls' tent, which was slightly smaller than the boys', though without the smell of cats, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off across the campsite with the kettle and saucepans. Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring eagerly around. It was only just dawning on Harry how many witches and wizards there must be in the world; he had never really thought much about those in other countries. Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First to stir were the families with small children; Harry had never seen witches and wizards this young before. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent. â€Å"How many times, Kevin? You don't – touch – Daddy's – wand – yecchh!† She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling with the little boy's yells â€Å"You bust slug! You bust slug!† A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, â€Å"In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose -â€Å" Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure this couldn't work. Three African wizards sat in serious conversation, all of them wearing long white robes and roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire, while a group of middle-aged American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a spangled banner stretched between their tents that read: THE SALEM WITCHES' INSTITUTE. Harry caught snatches of conversation in strange languages from the inside of tents they passed, and though he couldn't understand a word, the tone of every single voice was excited. â€Å"Er – is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?† said Ron. It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they heard their names. â€Å"Harry! Ron! Hermione!† It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock-covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, also of Gryffindor. â€Å"Like the decorations?† said Seamus, grinning. â€Å"The Ministry's not too happy.† â€Å"Ah, why shouldn't we show our colors?† said Mrs. Finnigan. â€Å"You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?† she added, eyeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione beadily. When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, â€Å"Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot.† â€Å"I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?† said Hermione. â€Å"Let's go and have a look,† said Harry, pointing to a large patch of tents upfield, where the Bulgarian flag – white, green, and red – was fluttering in the breeze. The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, but each and every one of them had the same poster attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, but all it did was blink and scowl. â€Å"Krum,† said Ron quietly. â€Å"What?† said Hermione. â€Å"Krum!† said Ron. â€Å"Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!† â€Å"He looks really grumpy,† said Hermione, looking around at the many Krum's blinking and scowling at them. â€Å"‘Really grumpy?† Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. â€Å"Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see.† There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation. â€Å"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious -â€Å" â€Å"I bought this in a Muggle shop,† said the old wizard stubbornly. â€Å"Muggles wear them.† â€Å"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these,† said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers. â€Å"I'm not putting them on,† said old Archie in indignation. â€Å"I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks.† Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point that she had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away. Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of the water, they made their way back through the campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. Oliver Wood, the old captain of Harry's House Quidditch team, who had just left Hogwarts, dragged Harry over to his parents' tent to introduce him, and told him excitedly that he had just been signed to the Puddlemere United reserve team. Next they were hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a very pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. She waved and smiled at Harry, who slopped quite a lot of water down his front as he waved back. More to stop Ron from smirking than anything, Harry hurriedly pointed out a large group of teenagers whom he had never seen before. â€Å"Who d'you reckon they are?† he said. â€Å"They don't go to Hogwarts, do they?† â€Å"‘Spect they go to some foreign school,† said Ron. â€Å"I know there are others. Never met anyone who went to one, though. Bill had a penfriend at a school in Brazil†¦this was years and years ago†¦and he wanted to go on an exchange trip but Mum and Dad couldn't afford it. His penfriend got all offended when he said he wasn't going and sent him a cursed hat. It made his ears shrivel up.† Harry laughed but didn't voice the amazement he felt at hearing about other wizarding schools. He supposed, now that he saw representatives of so many nationalities in the campsite, that he had been stupid never to realize that Hogwarts couldn't be the only one. He glanced at Hermione, who looked utterly unsurprised by the information. No doubt she had run across the news about other wizarding schools in some book or other. â€Å"You've been ages,† said George when they finally got back to the Weasleys' tents. â€Å"Met a few people,† said Ron, setting the water down. â€Å"You've not got that fire started yet?† â€Å"Dad's having fun with the matches,† said Fred. Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life. â€Å"Oops!† he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise. â€Å"Come here, Mr. Weasley,† said Hermione kindly, taking the box from him, and showing him how to do it properly. At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch while they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the field, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for Harry's and Hermione's benefit; his own children knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly interested. â€Å"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office†¦.Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while now†¦Hello, Arnie†¦Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator – member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know†¦and that's Bode and Croaker†¦they're Unspeakables†¦.† â€Å"They're what?† â€Å"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to†¦.† At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them. â€Å"Just Apparated, Dad,† said Percy loudly. â€Å"Ah, excellent, lunch!† They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them. â€Å"Aha!† he said. â€Å"The man of the moment! Ludo!† Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person Harry had seen so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress. He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, Harry thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy. â€Å"Ahoy there!† Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement. â€Å"Arthur, old man,† he puffed as he reached the campfire, â€Å"what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming†¦and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements†¦.Not much for me to do!† Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air. Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression. â€Å"Ah – yes,† said Mr. Weasley, grinning, â€Å"this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry – and this is Fred – no, George, sorry – that's Fred – Bill, Charlie, Ron – my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.† Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry's forehead. â€Å"Everyone,† Mr. Weasley continued, â€Å"this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets -â€Å" Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing. â€Å"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?† he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. â€Å"I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first – I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years – and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match.† â€Å"Oh†¦go on then,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Let's see†¦a Galleon on Ireland to win?† â€Å"A Galleon?† Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. â€Å"Very well, very well†¦any other takers?† â€Å"They're a bit young to be gambling,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Molly wouldn't like -â€Å" â€Å"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts,† said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, â€Å"that Ireland wins – but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand.† â€Å"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that,† Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter. â€Å"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!† Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval. â€Å"Boys,† said Mr. Weasley under his breath, â€Å"I don't want you betting†¦.That's all your savings†¦.Your mother -â€Å" â€Å"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!† boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. â€Å"They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance†¦.I'll give you excellent odds on that one†¦.We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we†¦.† Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names. â€Å"Cheers,† said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages.† â€Å"Mr. Crouch?† said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. â€Å"He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll†¦.† â€Å"Anyone can speak Troll,† said Fred dismissively. â€Å"All you have to do is point and grunt.† Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil. â€Å"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?† Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass beside them all. â€Å"Not a dicky bird,† said Bagman comfortably. â€Å"But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha†¦memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July.† â€Å"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?† Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea. â€Å"Barty Crouch keeps saying that,† said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, â€Å"but we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh – talk of the devil! Barty!† A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. Harry could see at once why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager; Harry doubted even Uncle Vernon would have spotted him for what he really was. â€Å"Pull up a bit of grass, Barry,† said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him. â€Å"No thank you, Ludo,† said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. â€Å"I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box.† â€Å"Oh is that what they're after?† said Bagman. I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent.† â€Å"Mr. Crouch!† said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of halfbow that made him look like a hunchback. â€Å"Would you like a cup of tea?† â€Å"Oh,† said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. â€Å"Yes – thank you, Weatherby.† Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle. â€Å"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur,† said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets.† Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh. â€Å"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?† â€Å"I doubt it,† said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. â€Å"He's desperate to export here.† â€Å"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?† said Bagman. â€Å"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle, said Mr. Crouch. â€Å"I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve – but that was before carpets were banned, of course.† He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law. â€Å"So, been keeping busy, Barty?† said Bagman breezily. â€Å"Fairly,† said Mr. Crouch dryly. â€Å"Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo.† â€Å"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?† said Mr. Weasley. Ludo Bagman looked shocked. â€Å"Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun†¦.Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to took forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?† Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman. â€Å"We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details -â€Å" â€Å"Oh details!† said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. â€Å"They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts -â€Å" â€Å"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know,† said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. â€Å"Thank you for the tea, Weatherby.† He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily. â€Å"See you all later!† he said. â€Å"You'll be up in the Top Box with me – I'm commentating!† He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them Disapparated. â€Å"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?† said Fred at once. â€Å"What were they talking about?† â€Å"You'll find out soon enough,† said Mr.Weasley, smiling. â€Å"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it,† said Percy stiffly. â€Å"Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it.† â€Å"Oh shut up, Weatherby,† said Fred. A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere. Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes – green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria – which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves. â€Å"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this,† Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him. â€Å"Wow, look at these!† said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials. â€Å"Omnioculars,† said the saleswizard eagerly. â€Å"You can replay action†¦slow everything down†¦and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain – ten Galleons each.† â€Å"Wish I hadn't bought this now,† said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars. â€Å"Three pairs,† said Harry firmly to the wizard. â€Å"No – don't bother,† said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Harry, who had inherited a small fortune from his parents, had much more money than he did. â€Å"You won't be getting anything for Christmas,† Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands. â€Å"For about ten years, mind.† â€Å"Fair enough,† said Ron, grinning. â€Å"Oooh, thanks, Harry,† said Hermione. â€Å"And I'll get us some programs, look -â€Å" Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold. And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field. â€Å"It's time!† said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. â€Å"Come on, let's go!†

A Project Report On Marketing Plan For Kudu is a Saudi Arabia

Kudu is a Saudi Arabia based restaurant chain with over 327 store outlets across the country (Kudu, 2017). The restaurant was established with the aim to offer a unique dining experience for the people of Saudi Arabia. The restaurant has a highly trained staff along with great infrastructure to maintain the standard of services in terms of quality, efficiency and reliability. The restaurant has received ISO and HACCP SQF recognition for its consistency of service standards (Kudu, 2017). The customers can watch their orders being processed and rest assured that the food is being prepared in a neat, clean and hygienic manner. The goal of the company is to â€Å"offer a unique dining experience to the customers through quality and fresh food of restaurant† (Kudu, 2017). The restaurant has excelled in its services by maintaining its service standard and procuring fresh and quality food ingredients on daily basis. Thus, the restaurant has developed a sustainable business model that would ensure the longevity of the business and assist to reach its goals. Kudu has strategically positioned itself as a restaurant that offers fresh food to its customers through its open kitchen tradition where customers can watch the preparation of the recipes being cooked and packed (Kudu, 2017). The restaurant has adopted various marketing strategies to promote its products in the market of Saudi Arabia. The restaurant has a dedicated website through which customers can access all the detailed information on Kudu related to its menu, products, stores, quality services and required details. The restaurant also displays its latest products and offers through its website. The customers can choose from a wide range of offers such as combo offers, meal offers and the festive offers that are being served during an occasion. The core focus of the company is quality, reliable and efficient services and it has been able to maintain it over a long period of time (Kudu, 2017).   The targeted customers of Kudu include men & women, students & executives, youth an d adults, friends & families, who can enjoy the delicious breakfasts, lunch and dinner at the restaurant (Kudu, 2017). Kudu may have been able to create a trust among the customers through its quality and reliable services, yet it needs to expand its market in order to grow its revenue and profitability. The restaurant targets diversified customers including men & women, students & executives, youth and adults, friends & families. The restaurant also offers home delivery to the customers to increase its reach ability and overall sales revenue. The restaurant has great opportunity to target offices in the country. Another identified opportunity for the restaurant is introducing meal campaign for the professionals and executives. The plan proposes to offer meal for the executives and professionals at their doorsteps during their lunch time. After studying the marketing strategies of Kudu, it was identified that the company has a great opportunity to target the market of corporate and professionals (Egan, 2007). The executives and professionals are busy people who do not have time to go out for their meals during lunch hours. Since Kudu has established its restaurant store outlets across the country that serves a diversified range of customers, therefore, it is not able to serve the needs of these busy professionals. In order to offer great services, a brand must take care the needs and wants of its customers (Luther, 2011). Thus, a marketing plan would be developed that would aim to target this group of people. Marketing mix element is one of the concepts of marketing that is being mostly used by the company to develop their marketing plan by analyzing product, price, promotion and place (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008). Product: The product comprises of two components that includes meal combo and doorstep services at the offices of the professionals. The meal would comprise of three components including one main course (burger/sandwich/rice beef), one drink (Coke/fanta/sprite) and any one out of salad/fries/sweet dish. The menu would be different for every day so that the customers do not get bored of eating the same food. Now the meal would be served during the lunch hours of the professionals at the doorstep of their offices so that they do not have to travel to the restaurant. This would save their order time and travelling time. Thus, the concept of innovation is being applied to create reliable, consistent and efficient services. Price: Pricing strategy depends upon the paying capacity of the consumers (Kubicki, 2015)). In this situation economy pricing strategy would be appropriate so that executives can easily avail this service (Schindler and Schindler, 2011). Since a large group of people would be availing this service, therefore, the cost of the product would also reduce and the economies of scale would be easily achieved. Promotion: In the changing business environment context, digital marketing has become a popular marketing strategy and is being commonly deployed by the companies. Kudu could also use this strategy to reach its target audience. Social media marketing, email marketing and search engine marketing are the most commonly used approaches for this marketing. In this scenario, Kudu could utilize email marketing tactics in order to reach a larger market share. Further, in order to attract larger number of audience, the restaurant could offer discounts and offers to the executives (McDonald, 2007). Place: Since the plan has proposed office delivery of meal orders for the executives, therefore, importance must be given to timely delivery of the services. The delay would cause trouble for the customers as their lunch hours are fixed and they cannot afford to waste their time. In order to implement the plan, the company must develop effective marketing strategies to attract the customers (Percy, 2008). The product has already been developed comprising of executive meal for the customers. Now communicating about this service to the target customer is an important aspect of the plan (Shimp, 2008). Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies that is used to directly reach the potential customers. The data of the potential customers could be collected through various methods. After the email ids have been collected, an appropriate email needs to be developed that highlights the core message of the campaign. Subject of Email: The subject of the email must be able to capture the attention of the user so that the reader is compelled to open the mail. The subject line would be â€Å"Enjoy your meal comfortably at your office†. This is more likely to attract the attention of the reader. Message Strategy: The image below effectively communicates the subject of the campaign. Introducing Executive Platter Services for Executives and Professional! Save Your Travelling Time and Order Placement Time By Subscribing To Our Services. Enjoy our Scrumptious Meal with varieties and flavors. For more details, contact Kudu Restaurant team: Phone: 966 (1) 419 – 1440, Email: info@kudu.com.sa Forecasting is an important element of a marketing plan that helps to project the future trends in the market. It assists to analyze the future market conditions and how would the market respond to the marketing campaign. The marketing plan targets the market segment of commercial office that are located in the centre region of Riyadh. Initially, the targeted offices include the region of Bahrain Tower, Commercial Business District and Olaya Towers so as to deliver effective services. The target group comprises of around one thousand customers and around 20% of them are likely to respond to the advertisement. Thus, the team must prepare to be able to serve to around two hundred customers. There are several methods to measure and control the marketing campaign and include the following: Egan, J. (2007). Marketing Communication. UK: Cengage Learning EMEA. Kubicki, M. (2015). The Marketing Mix:  Master the 4 Ps of marketing. US: 50 Minutes. Kudu. (2017). Heritage. Kudu. Available at: https://www.en.kudu.com.sa/heritage [Accessed Online 5 May 2017]. Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F., and McDaniel, C. (2008). Essential of Marketing. Cengage Learning. Luther, W.M. (2011). The Marketing Plan:  How to Prepare and Implement it. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing Plans:  How to Prepare Them, how to Use Them. US: Butterworth-Heinemann. Percy, L. (2008). Strategic Integrated Marketing Communication:  Theory and Practice. US: Routledge. Schindler, R.M., and Schindler, R. (2011). Pricing Strategies:  A Marketing Approach. California: SAGE. Shimp, T.A. (2008). Advertising Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. US: Cengage Learning. Yeshin, T. (2012). Integrated Marketing Communications. US: Routledge.

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product Research Paper

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product - Research Paper Example According to Mayo Clinic, tea may also work against viruses that cause genital warts. Tea also contains polyphenols, potent antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer, according to TeaBenefits.com. It may also lower both cholesterol and triglyceride levels while it prevents blood clots effectively as aspirin to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Grapeseed oil is pressed and extracted from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera  grapes, an abundant  by-product  of  winemaking. Primary uses of grapeseed oil include culinary and cosmetics. It is a significant to antioxidant products because it helps in moisturizing the skin. According to wisegeek.com, it is often combined with other oils to make  massage  oil because of its quality to glide well on the skin and its moisturizing properties. It also appears to assist with skin repair because of its mild astringent  and antiseptic qualities. It is also used as a  lubricant  for  face  shaving. Pomegranate seed oil is an extract from pomegranate (Punica granatum), fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. Pomegranate is native to China, India, Egypt and regions of the Middle East. It is rich and nutritious. Its phytochemical content such as ellagic acid makes it useful to antioxidant products. According to the mountainroseherbs.com, it’s because of these properties that make it commonly used in cosmetics products. It helps to revitalize dull or mature skin, assist with wrinkles, and to soothe minor skin irritations. Pomegranate seed oil adds moisture, improves skin elasticity, and protects the skin. It can also provide relief from minor skin irritations and inflammation such as dry skin, eczema, psoriasis and sunburned skin. In one study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical School (published in the February 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology), it have shown that pomegranate

Are VLEs being used successfully in Secondary Schools within London Essay

Are VLEs being used successfully in Secondary Schools within London - Essay Example As with all other systems implemented within schools without any real time trial and tested period, the VLE might be open to harsh criticisms. An article by Becta (2003) defines Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as â€Å"a standardised, computer-based environment that supports the delivery of web-based learning and facilitates on-line interaction between students and teachers.† It also goes on to state that parents, teachers and learners can access this web based system from any internet connection. This means that having access to a secure site will facilitate the delivery of course materials and enhance activities such as on-line interactions between students and tutors, uploading and downloading resources, on-line tracking and assessment of students’ progress. However, for these features to be possible, all teachers, parents and students would have to be computer literate and this will obviously require appropriate training, which is bound to be time consuming. Research shows that VLEs can be a fantastic tool for learning. However institutions will have to outline appropriate principles and practices and protocols to govern transfer of data as well has bring about a willingness to culturally change the way how teachers deliver lessons and the pace at which learners learn (O’Hagan, 1995). According to a survey conducted by Tom Browne and Martin Jenkins for the Universities’ and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) computing and information systems would be under significant pressures and thus centralisation would be essential for the use, implementation and technical support of virtual learning environments, as well as a cultural change in the attitude towards teaching and learning on the part of staff and students. It was found that most institutions are using VLEs for different purposes while others were uncertain in deciding which is best for the main purpose of the individual institution’s faculties and departments (Browne and

How the rapid evolution of technology and our utilization of it can Essay

How the rapid evolution of technology and our utilization of it can affect and change our identities - Essay Example While most of us believe that loss of anonymity is not good for us, some consider a loss of anonymity as a benefit to the society. The paper tries to answer this question, â€Å"Are there any possible benefits of anonymity?† Giving so much of our information on the Internet does not affect us badly as some people might think. There seem to be more benefits of being open that promoting the anonymity. It evidence from what happened to Egypt immediately before Hosni Mubarak was removed from power. Social networks such as Facebook and twitter are the most visited sites. The users give out their information on the essence that they will improve interaction with others. However, critics argue that giving out too much of our personal information is not good. Their argument is not true, Singers acknowledges that â€Å"with some social standards, the more people do something, the less risky it becomes for each individual† (463). In addition, social networks are beneficial to the society especially the under-privilege as in the case of Egyptians. Despite the view of many that we are losing our anonymity through social networks such as Facebook, the Egyptians and other Arabs benefited. They used online plat form to protest against their corrupt governments (Singer 464). As in the case of drivers, their anonymity makes them aggressive towards other people especially the other drivers. According to Vanderbilt, the consideration by drivers that they are anonymous or the anonymity of other drivers make them act roughly on the road. In addition, any mess on the road by the drivers that result to respond from other drivers result to anger â€Å"†¦we gesture violently or honk-a noise the offending driver might misinterpret† (487). The negative response from the other driver is due to the anonymity, â€Å"You can see but you can’t be heard† (Vanderbilt 488). The existence of anonymity is beneficial to drivers because they express themselves in any way. A scenario on

The Right to Work - Employment Relations Act Research Paper

The Right to Work - Employment Relations Act - Research Paper Example The formal name for the legislation was the Labor Management Relations Act (Decker and Covington, 2002). Apparently, the act was aimed at protecting workers from forced unionization and gave them the freedom to decide on whether or not to join labour unions but still enjoy job security (NRTW, 2011). This paper is a critical evaluation of labour relations in the states of Texas and New York in terms of the right to work. The right to work as per the US labour laws protects workers from losing their jobs or applicants being denied job opportunities on the basis of their affiliation with labour unions either financially or otherwise (NRTW, 2011). In this context, it would be important to mention that labour organizations are an important entity in the society, which, among other responsibilities, fights for the betterment of employee’s lives by acting as a unified force through which workers concerns and grievances are presented to the relevant stakeholders such as employers and the government at large for consideration. In general, labour unions are supposed to be the major champions and defenders of workers’ rights to ensure that they are not discriminated in any way by scrupulous agencies and employers. However, it is notable that some labour laws in different states in the US provide for the same unions to trample on some of the fundamental rights of employees that are included even in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states categorically that it is every person’s right to work. Such states are for example New York, which is pro-forced unionization. In New York State, unions are given the right to demand union fees from employees as a condition for their continued employment (FindLaw 2011). To achieve this, the employers work hand in hand with the unions to ensure that the fees are deducted from the salaries and delivered to the unions. If an employee refuses to pay up, they are faced with the possibility of losing their jobs, a factor which is categorized as a major challenge especially for the young generations, who opt to move to other states such as Texas, which have the right to work.  Ã‚  

Discussion for African American study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion for African American study - Essay Example Today, beauty values, as well as white European features over the others especially on women’s appearances. I choose to discuss the constructs with skin color, as well as the beauty discourse of women, as beauty concepts are usually directed mostly to the women. A lingering question on my mind is â€Å"Are white women beautiful or is it the society that makes them?† According to Gilman (2001), beauty is an appearance created for women to use as a mechanism to boost their self-worth (p. 255). Dark women are particularly exposed to the effects of Europeans standards of beauty because the European ideals emphasize on skin color and hair texture. This automatically excludes the black women especially the one with the dark skin (Bryant, Para1). This is noted because mostly in the United States, the main stream beauty ideal is exclusively white, making it difficult for women with dark skin. Although there are women with dark skin who have made it in the United States for example; Jennifer Hudson, the media and the culture of these women have been ‘white washed’ with lighter colored, straight hair, lots of makeup, and artificial eye contacts among others so as they would resemble the white women (Admin, Para 5). Even though a woman is recognized for something else rather than their beauty, the magazines, or the media still feel that they need to white wash her in order to feature her image. Pecolas insanity and obsession with blue eyes still is pertinent in the United States. According to Valdivia (2000), the people of the United States consider individual with blue eyes as beautiful. The society has always believed in the idea that the white are better than the dark colored, thus preferring the blue-eyed individuals (p. 146). It is known that only the white people can acquire blue eyes naturally. The dark colored people often are

Ancient Greece Architecture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ancient Greece Architecture - Research Paper Example The most distinctive characteristic of ancient Greek architecture is its temples. Ancient Greek architecture is best recognized for its temples. Many of them are situated all the way through the area, generally as ruins or remains but a lot are still to a large extent intact. The succeeding most significant form of structure that endured all throughout the Hellenic world is the uncovered, open-air theatre. The earliest among them dates all the way back roughly around 350 BC. Each Greek township had these kinds of theatre, which were used for communal and social gatherings and meetings as well as for theatrical presentations and shows. The theatre was typically placed in a hillside right out of the town, and had rows of seats placed one above the other, in a half circle surrounding and around the middle area for the performance or presentation, the orchestra. Behind that was a building called the skene. This functioned as a dressing room for the performers, a storage room for props, e tc. and as background scenery to the action happening in the orchestra. A couple of Greek open-air theatres have survived and remained nearly undamaged. The best known among all is located at Epidaurus. The architect who designed this theatre was Polykleitos the Younger who was also a sculptor of athletes and the architect of Tholos. Aside from the theatre, there are also other architectural structures that are even now still in sight. One of them is the processional entry used for ceremonies. This gateway is called the propylon. A storied row of pillars called the stoa borders the agora, or the public square. The town building where the ruling body meets called the bouleuterion can also still be seen in some places. Others include the public memorial, the massive mausoleums and the stadium as well. Towns in Greece with a population of significant size also had a gymnasium or palaestra. This was the public center for males. This included watcher/spectator sections, baths, lavatories , and clubrooms as well. There were other sport-associated buildings. One of the most significant in ancient Greece was the hippodrome, used for horseracing. Only bits and pieces of the hippodromes have lasted. The stadium used for for foot races were 600 feet in length. A number of them exist in different places, which includes the ones in Olympia, Epidarus, Delphi and Ephesus. The 45,000-seating Panathinaiko Stadium which is situated in the Greek city of Athens, was repaired and restored back in the 1800s. It was later used in a number of Olympic Games, the ones held in 1896, 1906 and 2004 Olympic Games. Ancient Greek architecture is known for its greatly formal distinctiveness, equally of formation and ornamentation. Temples were frequently lifted up on elevated ground so that the sophistication of its magnitude and the effect of daylight on its exterior features might be observed from all perspectives. Nikolaus Pevsner refers to these magnificent architectural structures,  "placed before us with a physical presence more intense, more alive than that of any later building". The official terms of Ancient Greek architecture, in particular the dissection of architectural manner. Stylistically, the architecture of Ancient Greece is separated into three â€Å"orders†: the Doric Order, the Ionic Order and the Corinthian Order. The names of these orders reveal their origin. The Doric Order, th

The protection of biodiversity involves a multi-pronged approach in Essay

The protection of biodiversity involves a multi-pronged approach in response to numerous threats, challenges and pressures. Desc - Essay Example Canada has identified several endangered species from its rich diversity. These species include the polar bear, the spotted owl, boreal woodland caribou, pearly caribou and the kidney shell. These are just some of the species that are listed as endangered and many Canadian environmentalists argue that there are many more. These species face many threats ranging from climatic changes to human induced activities. The population of the polar bear for instance is on a declining trend because of climatic changes and increased hunting and persecution by man in Canada. Similar threats face other endangered species and to reverse the situation, the Canadian government has enforced multi-prong approaches to preserve and conserve the species. The first approach is listing and identification of the endangered species, recovery strategies, action planning, and protection of their habitats in addition to indentifying safety nets for protection. Two agencies namely Committee on the Status of the E ndangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and federal government through SARA (Species at Risk Act) are responsible for listing and indentifying the endangered species. This is followed by identifying the habitat of the endangered species with an objective of preserving it from being lost. Venter, et al (2006) indentified habitat loss as the main factor that has contributed to decline of species in the country.

My Teacher, My Hero Essay Example for Free

My Teacher, My Hero Essay When my friends asked me to write again, I decided to start my compilation with something meaningful, a themed essay for the My Teacher, My Hero theme, contrary to last year wherein I had a hard time choosing who to pay tribute to, this year is much different, it was easy and I believe, it is the most obvious choice. Everyone has someone to keep them on their own feet as they walk through life. Normally, it would be your parent or friend, but mine is different, I had kept myself intact with the help of a teacher. Teachers are usually there to impart knowledge and give you an opportunity to move on with life, I was blessed to have someone during my college days who takes time to make sure that I was okay and the strength to hold on to when everything else went astray, he was Engr. Elmerito D. Pineda. I first met Engr. Pineda as my professor back when I was in First Year (Advanced Programming Languages in C) , back then, things were just inside the classroom – lectures, quizzes, exercises which brought my confidence back after losing my scholarship during the previous term but things turned different when I was in my Third Year and he became our thesis mentor. He turned out to be the #1 Supporter to what we have wanted in the first place, the Alumni Tracer for FEU – East Asia College. Despite both parties having to adjust to the situation of having a part-time mentor last year, we both exerted effort to follow-up and communicate with each other. Since I was always doing the documentation portion of most our projects, I was the one responsible for making follow-ups with the mentor, which happened to be Mr. Pineda. I took it as my responsibility to stay late, meet him after classes for checking and even go straight to his FEU Main class just to finish the proposal for our thesis. Unfortunately, our second term was cut short after failing the proposal defense – but when things thought that it was the end of our mentorship with Engr. Pineda, we were wrong. He stayed with us until the very end. He had always made sure that I was okay. He had always made me feel secure especially by showing me how much he believes in the entire group. When we are back for the third term with a different project and mentor, he made sure he would ask us about our thesis and he was one of the few people who first congratulated us after a successful defense – indeed, he showed me that he was true to his words when we started communicating, â€Å"Dito lang ako for you, parang si Ms. Bong (Evelyn Ruth M. Manuel)†. He never left the group, he never left me during the good times and the bad times. Even if he is not physically present, his presence would always be felt wholeheartedly, and in the little ways he does it, I am extremely grateful. As time pass by, I looked up to him as one of the best friends and as my â€Å"dad† in school. I still see him from time to time. He has helped mold my character to be as strong as it is right now. He has his own way of teaching me things, he doesn’t get mad easily when you do something wrong, however, he has his own way to show you that you are wrong and it is proven effective to me, I managed to make amends and never do things again. For all the things he has done for me, all I can do to repay is to be there for him as well. I know I would be supporting him in whatever he would aspire to do in his life. I also look forward to see him finish Doctoral of Information Technology sometime next year for it would add weapons to his already impressive curriculum vitae. I hope he touch more lives and help direct it to a better place, just like how he helped me push my life back on track. My life would never be perfect. I would always experience the roller-coasters of being a human being but I would always remember one thing, that indeed, I was blessed. I was blessed to have people that would guide me. I was blessed to have people who would accept me for who I am. Furthermore, I am blessed to have Engr. Elmerito D. Pineda in my life, whatever you do call him, he would always have a special place in my life, a great mentor, friend and a dad. Engr. Elmerito D. Pineda, hats off†¦ my 2011 would not be complete without having the opportunity to thank you for everything that you have done for me.

The Effective Help To Families And Children Social Work Essay

The Effective Help To Families And Children Social Work Essay I was requested to complete a Pre-Birth Assessment with regards to Case BB. The referral was made by the Community Midwife to the Children and Families Area Team where I was on my placement. The Community Midwifes concerns were BBs age, she already had a child who was under one year, her partner was in prison and the Midwife was further concerned about BBs lack of engagement with the health services particularly ante-natal services. The Midwife was also concerned with BBs emotional state of mind. To consolidate what little information was on the referral I contacted BBs current Health Visitor whereby I was subject to a litany of BBs misdemeanours regarding her care of CA. Although the Health Visitor regarded BBs care of CA as poor I noted that there had been no social work input requested from the Health Visitor and that the Health Visitor had quite a forceful personality. However, I took on board the information the Health Visitor provided with an objective mind. BB is 19 years old and lives in a local authority house in a rural village with few local amenities. The village is not well served with public transport which makes it difficult for BB to access the main town. BBs sole income is benefit based. BB now has two children, CA who is 15 months old and LA who is 3 months old. BBs partner, BA (who is 22 years of age) is at present in prison, serving a sentence for Assault to Serious Injury. BA is not expected to return to the family home until October 2010. BA is the natural father to both CA and LA. My role was to complete a Pre-Birth Assessment with regards to convening a Pre-Birth Conference if necessary. This is in line with the local authoritys High Risk Pregnancy Protocol. My role was also to support and work in partnership with BB and her family in the longer term. The context of my practice was that of a statutory role with statutory responsibilities. Therefore, I had to consider how to support the family by assessing BBs strengths and pressures as well as promote the welfare of BBs child and unborn child and in the wider sense to keep the family together. According to Hothersall (2008) these are principles inherent within the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 which themselves derive from broader principles surrounding the rights of the children and the importance of positive development as the basis for a meaningful life. Further to this Healy (2005) points out that within the practice context it is the legal aspect which has precedence over other aspects of practice. This incorporates the fulfilment of legal duties and responsibilities. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, as mentioned previously, is the underpinning legislation within Children and Families. This legislation with regards to parental responsibilities was I felt, pertinent to this case. For example, the responsibilities of a parent to a child under 16 are set out in Section 1 of this Act. They are to safeguard and promote the health, development and welfare of the child and to provide appropriate direction to the child according to age. These parental responsibilities were important to consider when completing the Pre-Birth Assessment in response to both BB and her partner BAs capacity to parent. The Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) (Scottish Executive, 2005) policy was also crucial in my assessment. GIRFEC provides a practice model which promotes holistic assessment and planning for children, centred upon indicators of well-being and as a policy is about intervention as early as possible and provision of the right help at the right time. Within GIRFEC is the My World assessment model which I used to help me complete the Pre-Birth Assessment particularly in relation to BBs parenting skills with CA. I also utilised Getting Our Priorities Right (GOPR) A Guide for Workers in Best Practice (Local Authority Child Protection Web Pages). Underpinning this assessment was Protecting Children and Young People Framework for Standards (Scottish Executive, 2004). Within the context of completing the assessment I was aware of the statutory legal responsibility involved and the requirement to work within the framework of current legislation and policy. During supervision discussion was centred around the issue of care and control from the perspective of my practice based on statutory responsibility. According to Thompson (2005) to ignore control is to run the risk of being ineffective, while to ignore care can lead to potentially abusive and oppressive practice. Further to this Banks (2006) points out that the reasons for many ethical dilemmas and problems stem from the social work role as a public service profession dealing with vulnerable service users who need to be able to trust the worker and be protected from exploitation; and also from its position as part of state welfare provision based on contradictory aims and values (care and controlprotection of individual rights and promotion of public welfare) that cause tensions, dilemmas and conflicts. (Banks, 2006, p.25) As Banks also points out, in practice it is the rules of the agency that define who is to be regarded as a service user and provide the context in which the social worker operates. This, for me reflects that need to recognize the significance of discrimination and oppression in service users lives and for my practice to be ethically sound and develop a participatory approach to my practice. Considering these points helped me formulate how I was going to engage with BB. I had an understanding of my statutory responsibilities from a legal and policy perspective and I had an understanding of my personal and professional values in terms of the tensions caused by care and control. Therefore, I needed to build a working relationship with BB which would allow me to build a theoretical understanding of the interrelationship between the individual and society. (Watson West, 2006, p.13) This would help me complete a meaningful and insightful assessment of BBs current difficulties with appropriate interventions. To complete the assessment, I took into consideration Germain and Gittermans The Life Model of Social Work Practice (1996). Payne (2005) describes this model as a formulation of the ecological systems theory which is based on the relationship between people and their environment. The aim of social work is to increase the fit between people and their environment by alleviating life stressors and increasing peoples personal and social resources to enable them to use more and better coping strategies. Payne further points out that practice must be carried out through a partnership between worker and service user that reduces power differences between them. The environment and the demands of the life course should be a constant factor in making decisions. By utilising Germain Gittermans life model of practice (1996) I was able to create an accepting and supportive environment by describing my role clearly to BB and encouraging BB to give her thoughts about the referral. This elicited background information about her relationship with BA and support networks she had within her own extended family and with BAs extended family. We discussed the birth of her second child particularly in respect of how BB felt she could cope with CA as well as with the new baby. BB identified this as a worry for her as she was concerned that she would not be able to manage. To make sense of this information Payne (2005) describes resources that people have in order to cope. These are self-efficacy, self-esteem and self-concept. BB had none of these emotional resources available to her at this time. Coupled with this she had no self-direction in the sense she did not feel she had any control over her life. To allow me to elicit further information regarding BBs parenting skills I observed her care of CA. The My World model which draws on upon the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979) and encourages practioners to take an ecological approach to the assessment process helped me in this respect. By looking at the three domains of growth and development, what is needed from the people who look after me and my wider world I was able to elicit the positives in the situation and the areas of pressure in relation to the safety, well-being and development of the child. Further to this, attachment theory, which according to Schofield (2002) is primarily a theory for understanding (Schofield, 2002, p.29) was also useful in that although directly seeking to improve the quality of interaction between children and caregivers, the childs sense of security, self-esteem and self-efficacy may also be increased by intervening in the systems around the family, for example providing social support to the mother or funding a place for the child in an activity group. A visit with BA was also organised, who although in prison presented as a significant risk factor due to alcohol consumption and increasing levels of violence, albeit the incidents were not in or near the family home and did not involve BB nor his child. BA was at first uncommunicative which was understandable due to the setting and nature of the visit. Trevithick (2007) suggests that asking a range of different questions is central to interviewing however, before asking a question we must be interested in the answer. (Trevithick, 2007, p. 159) By careful use of open and closed questions I was able to draw out BAs views on the assessment and gain some sense of a working relationship with him. However, what really opened the conversation was when I commented on how CA looked very like him. BA then started to talk about CA and how he was looking forward to the birth of his next baby. During the course of the visit I was able to understand how BA supports BB by allowing her the freedom to take care of CA while he did the cooking and looked after the house. BA went on to explain that his relationship with BB was sound but that he was aware he had let her down badly particularly as she was pregnant with his second child. BA was aware that he had missed a lot of CA growing up and he did not want this to happen with his second child. BA was also open about the circumstances leading to his arrest and he admitted that it was due to a feud between two different villages that had been going on since school. BA confirmed that the whole thing was stupid and that he now realised he needed to grow up. Taking into account the information gained and observations made during my visits with BB, CA and BA I was able to start to make sense of their environment, their strengths and pressures and the roles each of them had within the home and their community. Intervention at the initial stages of the process was I believe successful with regard to forming a working partnership with BB and to an extent with BA. Further visits with BB drew further information regarding informal support networks which in the main was her mother. BBs mother was a source of practical support and advice and they were in contact daily. BB described her mother as her ear. Permission was sought from BB to meet with her mother. BBs mother was keen for her daughter to gain support from social services as she realised how difficult her daughter was finding things at this time. To complete the assessment and take into account risk factors and strengths I had to analyse and reflect on the information I had gained. According to Helm (2009) this information needs to be analysed before an understanding is developed which allows a judgement to be formed which can lead to an appropriate decision or action. Calder (2002) further offers a framework for conducting risk assessment by assessing all areas of identified risk and ensuring that each is considered separately e.g. child, parent, and surrounding environment each worrying behaviour should be assessed individually as each is likely to involve different risk factors. To counteract the risk factors present family strengths and resources should also be assessed, for example good bonding, supportive networks. After a thorough analysis and supervisory discussions I recommended that a Post-Birth Multi-Agency Conference not be convened. However, I recommended that a further assessment take place when BA returns to the family home and a Post-Birth Multi-Agency meeting to discuss future interventions be arranged as I was aware that the birth of the new baby could be a future pressure on BB. In line with anti-oppressive practice and partnership working, I discussed both the assessment and recommendations with BB and by letter with BA. Both were given the opportunity to put their views across and both were happy to continue to work voluntarily with the department for the present. The reasons behind my recommendations were that BB although socially isolated had a strong supportive network with her extended family and BAs extended family. Further to this BB has a close and supportive relationship with her mother whom she sees every day. According to Hill et al (2007) a vast array of research shows that parents in poverty, or facing other stresses, usually cope better when they have one or more close relationships outside the household and these are activated to give practical, emotional or informational support. Most often this is informal but, for isolated parents access to family centres or professionals including health professionals can make a great difference to both the parents and the social and emotional health of children. (Barlow Underdown, 2005) With regards to CA, BB had a good bond with her daughter and was quick to attend to her needs. BB also had a routine in place for CA regarding mealtimes and naps this also included a bedtime routine. CA was reaching her developmental milestones (Source: Sheridans Charts). CA had age appropriate toys and had the freedom of the living area. BB had erected a baby gate to stop CA from gaining access to the kitchen and the stairs. However, since CA started walking, BB has to continually keep an eye on CA due to the open fire and hearth in the living area which is proving stressful for BB. Immediate interventions included obtaining Section 22 funding to purchase a safety fireguard and information was obtained regarding BB making applications for Sure Start and Healthy Eating Grants. These applications were successfully made by BB and allowed her to purchase essential items for the new baby. BB had highlighted this as a worry for her as she was struggling financially. Working in collaboration with the Community Midwife arrangements were made for BB to make the trip to the clinic on alternate weeks when her benefits were received. The Community Midwife visited her at home the other weeks. I believe I managed to build a positive working relationship with BB. According to Wilson et al (2008) relation-based practice is the emphasis it places on the professional relationship with the service user. The social worker and service user relationship is recognised to be an important source of information for the worker to understand how best to help. In order to make informed decisions and critically evaluate practice, reflection and analysis of information should embrace all sources of knowledge which have to be drawn upon. Further to this, a potentially more informative, relationship-based and reflective response would be to articulate the service users feelings by which the service user can acknowledge their own responses to the situation. As Fook (2002) points out: Reflective practioners are those who can situate themselves in the context of the situation and can factor this understanding into the ways in which they practice (Fook, 2002, p.40) Banks (2006) also indicates that part of the process of becoming a reflective practioner also involves being aware of ones own position of power and how dominant discourses construct the knowledge and values we use to describe and work with situations and practice. This has been discussed in supervision with regards to BBs Pre-Birth assessment and to visiting BA in prison. It is difficult to evaluate whether aspects of my work were effective or not. However, in supervision we discussed how keen BB was to gain support and seemed to appreciate the partnership approach. This was discussed in relation to Hill et als (2007) research and Barlow and Underdown (2005). Small aspects of my intervention, such as the provision of the safety fireguard were described by BB as a godsend and she was proud to show me the baby items she had purchased on receipt of the grants. Discussion in supervision also centred round the next stage of intervention which was after the baby was born. I discussed with BB the opportunity for CA to attend a local authority nursery one day per week. This would help CAs social and emotional development and at the same time allow BB to spend time with LA. This referral was successful as was gaining the services of a volunteer driver to transport CA. However, CA has only just started at the nursery and therefore difficult to gauge if this referral has been effective. Reflecting on my work overall, I should probably have explored more with BB her social isolation and worked on strategies to get her more involved in the community. Further to this resources in this village are non-existent and the parenting groups which were suitable were not available locally. BB was interested but location of the Family Centre and lack of public transport negated this. I enquired with regards to Outreach Work but this was not available. Discussion with other colleagues in the team reflected the same theme regarding facilities for the outlying villages. Further discussion in supervision raised for me the difficulty of maintaining empowering and anti-oppressive practice within this context as assessment should be needs led not resource led. 2,979 words